Historically Speaking, How Cold Has It Been? Updated Tue 12/17

We wrote this little story about 5 days ago, and although we had a bit of a warm-up centered around the 13th, the below normal temperatures have continued.

Now, the first 5 days of December were normal to slightly above normal. Then the bottom dropped out on December 6th and it's been cold since that time. Here is how the last 11 days (December 6-16) of cold weather ranks historically for the same period for Milwaukee and Madison.

Milwaukee: December 6-16, 2013 average temperature was 13.8 degrees ranking 7th coldest ever. The coldest was 1958 at 5.8 degrees (1972 was 3rd at 10.3 degrees). The normal average for this 11 day period (averaging of high and low together) is right around 27 degrees.

For the month so far, Milwaukee's average temperatures is 20.7 degrees which is 7.9 degrees below normal. This ranks 16th coldest so far.

Madison: December 6-16, 2013 average temperature was 11.2 degrees ranking 7th coldest ever. The coldest was 1958 and 1917 at 3.5 degrees (1972 was 3rd at 3.9 degrees). The average for this time of year (averaging of high and low together) is right around 24 degrees.

For the month so far, Madison's average temperature was 18.0 degrees which is 7.2 degrees below normal. This ranks 23rd coldest so far.